Aging is the strongest risk factor for Alzheimer?s disease (AD), yet the molecular mechanisms that relate healthy aging and AD are understudied. One feature of aging is an increased level of chronic, low-grade inflammation which results in increased concentrations of circulating inflammatory molecules in blood. Further, blood from aged rodents can cause CNS dysfunctions and exacerbate responses to injury in young mice, indicating that factors in blood contribute to CNS dysfunction with aging. The blood- brain barrier (BBB) is an important interface between brain and blood and is thus a probable mediator of aged blood?s effects on the brain. The BBB is also adversely affected with aging and in AD; in both conditions data suggest that the BBB becomes leaky, and develops deficiencies in transporters, such as those for glucose and amyloid beta (A?). The net effect of these age-associated BBB dysfunctions includes entry of potentially harmful circulating molecules into the brain, reduced nutrient availability, and A? accumulation in the CNS. However, it is unknown whether factors in aged blood could contribute to age-associated BBB dysfunctions that may increase vulnerability to AD. Our project aims to address the hypothesis that the systemic aging milieu, modeled by application of serum from aged human donors, alters BBB functions (Aim 1) and exacerbates responses of the BBB to pro- inflammatory stimuli and A? oligomers (Aim 2) when compared with serum from young human donors. To test this hypothesis, we will use a recently developed in vitro model of the human BBB that is derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). iPSC-derived brain endothelial-like cells (iBECs) develop hallmark features of the in vivo BBB such as high transendothelial resistance (TEER), and so are suitable for use to assess BBB disruption and transporter deficiencies in response to stimuli on the brain or blood-facing side. We will determine in Aim 1 whether application of young vs. old human serum affects iBEC leakiness, which is proxied by TEER and permeability to large and small inert tracers. We will also test whether aged serum alters glucose and A? transport across iBECs, and whether the efflux transporter P-glycoprotein (Pgp) is functionally impaired.
In Aim 2, we will test whether exposure to aged human serum exacerbates BBB responses to treatments with pro-inflammatory cytokines or A?, which models neuroinflammation and A? accumulation in AD. We will also measure serum levels of a large panel of proteins implicated in aging and inflammation and assess their associations with measures of BBB dysfunction from both aims. Successful completion of this project could identify possible candidates in blood that may cause different aspects of BBB dysfunction with aging, and would highlight the utility of iBECs as a model for studying mechanisms by which aging contributes to AD-associated CNS dysfunction through the BBB.
Aging is the most predominant risk factor for Alzheimer?s disease (AD), and one way that aging may contribute to AD is through the blood vessels in the brain, termed the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Our project will use a new model of the human BBB that is derived from stem cells to test whether blood from aged humans impairs aspects of BBB functions that may contribute to AD. Successful completion of this study could provide insight on how protein changes in blood contribute to BBB dysfunction with age and in AD, and identify novel therapeutic approaches to protect the BBB as one ages.
